Each month Cougar Alums sit down and discuss their time as a varsity athlete. They reflect on past memories, teammates and the time they spent with the department. It is also a platform to discuss their lives after Cougar Athletics, their careers, families and new outlooks on life.

Cougar Tracks

I was drawn to Mount Royal because of the strengths of the program I was interested in and I think the good education I had and the experience I got at Mount Royal was very important in getting the job I now have.

Playing for the Cougars was an invaluable experience for me. I learned how to be a leader, how to be a friend, how to improve myself as a person and as an athlete. I think most importantly, I learned how to enjoy the process and the people around you, that's really where the magic is.

Being a university athlete taught me a lot about time management. As a student-athlete, you have to balance a full training, competition and travel schedule with a full-time academic program… it’s not always easy! But I believe that prepared me for “the real world” and helped me develop the skills I use to prioritize and balance my workday.

I took courses that contributed to my degree. I ended up getting my full degree at U of C but obviously Mount Royal contributed to that. It also really helped teach me a lot about teamwork, responsibility and accountability which is always important in the work world. Eventually, I want to be a professor but right now I’m still in school.

Playing with Mount Royal was a very good stepping stone for me to reach higher levels of play for University and for Canada's National Team. Coach Sky and the rest of the coaching staff really helped me and I played with some really great teammates that helped me get where I am today.

It was awesome. I played my first two years of college basketball at Mount Royal. I thought it was cool to be able to see Kyle play for the Cougars like I did. He was fortunate enough to play for such a great man in Marc Dobell.

We were competitive every single year that we played and I think all the coaches at Mount Royal do a good job of that. When I came out of high school I was just kind of playing basketball for fun and I wasn’t all that into it. Mount Royal helped me develop a competitive mentality and the drive to play basketball and at the highest level.

The hockey component really teaches about the team environment. Being on a competitive sports team teaches you a lot of the office environment. It is a group environment and teamwork is a huge component. It’s really hard to train for the real life in university but certainly the team component is a big helps you a lot.

To say playing for the Cougars helped me to get where I am today would be an understatement. My time spent with the Cougars taught me an unbelievable amount of important life lessons. The things I learned both on and off the ice were essential to getting..

Overall it was a great experience. Just being on a team with such a close knit group of guys, I learned a lot of life skills like dedication and commitment. Being able to manage school and hockey as well as the rest of your life sets you up well for the real world.

Playing there was such a good experience for me. The biggest impact it had one me was the relationships I was able to build. I became very close with a bunch of my teammates there that I still remain great friends with. The relationship with my assistant coach, Mark Hogan, who is now actually my boss was an unforgettable one. We work together quite closely on a daily basis.

Sports are just an amazing thing for any person whether they do it recreationally or at an elite level. Playing for the Cougars and taking it seriously throughout my academic career just meant that I really had to learn how to manage my time and prioritize the things going on in my life. I knew that if I took my studies and volleyball seriously,

It builds a leadership mentality. I learned some great traits about leadership, as well as playing on a team which is incredibly important in the business world. The amount of connections, contacts and networks that I built over the years at MRU have helped get me into this position I am in now.

It taught me a lot about leadership, teamwork and how to be a good team player. When you play in team sports it helps in a work environment when you’re doing lots of group work. You are working with other people all the time and it taught me a lot about working through your differences.

Sports and General I think helped me a lot with confidence and just networking and meeting tons and tons of people through basketball because it’s a small community within Calgary so being at Mount Royal and being able to be in the atmosphere at mount royal it was a good experience.